BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
SB 172 (Liu) - Pupil testing: high school exit examination:
suspension
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|Version: April 6, 2015 |Policy Vote: ED. 6 - 2 |
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|Urgency: No |Mandate: No |
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|Hearing Date: May 4, 2015 |Consultant: Jillian Kissee |
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This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: This bill suspends the administration of the high
school exit examination, and the requirement that students pass
this exam as a condition of graduation from high school, during
the 2016-17 through 2018-19 school years, or when the high
school exit exam is no longer available.
This bill also requires the California Department of Education
(CDE) to convene an advisory panel to provide recommendations on
the continuation of high school exit exam and on alternative
pathways to satisfy the high school graduation requirements.
Fiscal
Impact:
The suspension of the high school exit examination results in
estimated savings of up to mid tens of millions in Proposition
98 General Fund and Federal fund savings over a multi-year
period.
SB 172 (Liu) Page 1 of
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CDE estimates that this bill will result in one-time costs
between $123,000 and $200,000 to convene an advisory panel,
depending on the number of panel members. The recommendations
that derive from this panel could create a potentially
significant cost pressure to implement them.
Background: Academic content standards describe what students should know
and be able to do in each subject and grade from kindergarten
through high school. Current law established the Academic
Content Standards Commission to develop the California Common
Core Standards in English language arts and mathematics. The
State Board of Education adopted these standards in 2010 and
since then many other states across the nation have adopted them
as well.
Statewide student assessments measure student progress towards
meeting academic content standards. AB 484 (Bonilla, Ch. 489,
2013) revamped the state's assessment system by eliminating
several assessments that were aligned to prior academic content
standards, transitioning to assessments that are aligned to the
common core standards in English language arts and mathematics,
and requiring existing assessments for English language
development and primary language to be revised for alignment
with the common core standards. AB 484 did not affect the high
school exit exam statutes and this exam remains aligned to the
state's previous academic content standards.
Current law requires students, as a condition of graduating from
high school, to successfully complete specified coursework, any
locally-imposed graduation requirements, and pass the high
school exit exam. This bill suspends the requirement to pass
the exit exam. The high school graduation requirements would
therefore be the coursework required by the state and any
locally-imposed requirements.
According to CDE, the contract for the high school exit exam
will expire on October 31, 2015. CDE maintains that the
Department of General Services is prohibiting CDE from extending
the contract for this exam, and is requiring CDE to issue a
Request for Proposal. If initiated immediately, a new contract
will not be in place to ensure administration of the exam in
July. Absent any action, the high school exit exam will not be
SB 172 (Liu) Page 2 of
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available and therefore not be administered to students
beginning July 2015, yet the requirement to pass the exit exam
remains. This bill suspends the requirement to pass the exit
exam during specified school years, or when the exit exam is no
longer available.
Proposed Law:
This bill suspends the administration of the high school exit
examination, and the requirement that students pass this exam as
a condition of graduation from high school, during the 2016-17
through 2018-19 school years, or when the high school exit exam
is no longer available.
This bill also requires CDE to convene an advisory panel, with
specified members, to provide recommendations on the
continuation of high school exit exam and on alternative
pathways to satisfy the high school graduation requirements.
Related
Legislation:1. AB 484 (Bonilla, 2013) among other things, eliminated the state's
previous assessment system, the Standardized Testing and
Reporting Program, and instead established the California
Assessment of Student Performance and Progress, which includes
assessments that are aligned to the common core standards.
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